June 4 -Falmouth

Our last day of cruising. When we begin a journey it seems there is so much time to enjoy and then quickly the time passes and the journey is over….and that’s where we are today as we are in the port of Falmouth in Cornwall, England.

Cornwall stretches west into the sea and there was plenty of magnificent cliff-lined coast to explore. Towns with familiar names are around- St. Ives, Penzance, Flushing and Dartmouth. Seems our ancestors were not too creative in naming towns in the New World.

Falmouth features a fishing harbor, a yachting center and a fairly busy commercial port. Sailboats of many kinds glide across the water creating a beautiful picture. Pendennis Castle, built by Henry VIII in the 1540’s and improved by his daughter, Elizabeth I

Falmouth has a strong maritime tradition. Sir Walter Raleigh first saw the potential for a port here with it’s natural strategic advantages. Sir John Killigrew developed the deep-water harbor where we are anchored and said to be the 3^rd deepest harbor in the world. In 1689 it became the base for the Falmouth Packets, which carried the mail to America.

We were suddenly told we were to be anchored today and not docked. There is a Holland America ship, the Prinsendam, at the dock. Don’t know how all that gets sorted out but we were surprised to learn that last evening via an announcement from the Captain. The Prinsendam is our favorite HA ship- being 750 passengers- with a former life as the Royal Viking Sun. We sailed in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea for 24 terrific days in 2005….but wish they hadn’t gotten the spot at the dock here in Falmouth.

Our cabin stewardess, Miriam, has done a wonderful job. The other day we sent laundry and when it was returned we gained a man’s shirt and lost one of Jim’s new shirts. Miriam went to the laundry and returned with a board smile on her face….and the shirt. Jim has named it his “amazing grace shirt” since it was once lost and is now found. He plans to wear it on our journey home tomorrow to help us experience grace as we travel.

The classic chocolate on the pillows at night always contain some quote about traveling and we'll leave you with these chocolate quotes...

"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." Hilaire Belloc

"It is not enough to say I have been there. A voyage is not just a journey. It's a period carved out of time, when the impossible can happen." Unknown

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page." St. Augustine

"Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I gave seen." Benjamin Disraeli

AND finally "No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old familiar pillow." Lin Yutang

June 3- Cobh, Ireland

We are in port in the small town of Cobh. Arrival was active and a bit loud, but I was already up watching and Jim slept right along. Our destination is Cork, Ireland’s second largest city- running a distant second to Dublin.

Cork, with 119,400 people, is roughly 1/10^th the size of Dublin. The city received a boast in 2005 when the EU named it a Capital of Culture. Much development followed-including the redesign of the city center.

As to the question about Leprechauns….we have not seen any but the Irish folks we ask say just keep looking.

Our guide Kay began with a Gaelic

sentence meaning "100,000 welcomes" and then to comments about the weather she said, "Any day in Ireland that is NOT raining is a great day." The town where we are has about 12,000 residents and is a natural harbor which she compared to Sydney Harbor in size.

natural harbor. This is the home of the Irish Navy whose job is enforcing fishing rights and chasing drug smugglers. There was a 2 car Commuter Train that ran every 30 minutes into the town of Cork.

Kay talked about the high unemployment in Ireland- about 14% which 2 years ago was only 4%.

We departed the pier in Cobh and drove to West Cork via the Lee Tunnel costing 130 million Euros. It is an underwater tunnel constructed on the land and then sunk to be used as a tunnel. A grant from the EU paid for 80% of the tunnel. Of the many road grants that Ireland receives from the EU, 1% of each grant must be used for sculptures along the road.

Kay said there is an Irish saying about the weather, "Don't shed a cloth until May is out." That means it could still be chilly in May...and actually it was even in June. We saw the golf course called the Head of Kinsale where it costs 1,200 Euros to play a round of golf. Can't imagine!

During the drive we made a photo stop will be made at Charles Fort built in 1678 and used until 1922, which commands panoramic views of the town and beautiful Kinsale Harbor. This fort is one of Europe’s best-preserved “star forts” enclosing some 12 cliff-top acres. We continued on to Kinsale, a charming town that earned the European prize for Tourism and the Environment, as well as Entente Floreale, National Tidy Town and Gourmet Capital awards. Kay explained that the Tidy Town awards are based on size and population and are largely a volunteer effort. Nestled between the hills and the valley, Kinsale is safely sheltered by the rounded contours of a beautiful harbor. Believed to have been founded by the Anglo-Normans around 1177, Kinsale was a magnificent naval base in the 17th and 18th centuries, and enjoyed a degree of prosperity uncommon in Ireland. Kinsale has maintained European ties for centuries and

became the first town to be awarded the Flag of the Council of Europe in 1966.

William Penn was born here and sailed from Cobh to America...and the rest is important history for those folks with Pennsylvania connections.

Farming,tourism,pharmaceuticals, and computers are the sources of income and employment in Ireland. Over and over we saw beautiful scenes of the 40 shades of green for which Ireland is famous.

Kinsale owes its unique character to the fact that it was a garrison town and port of consequence for over 300 years; hence the magnificent Georgian homes and Dutch influence of its architecture. At one time, Kinsale was also the natural landfall for all the great sailing ships from the continent and the Americas. Foodies flock to Kinsale for fine dining in many of the small restaurants dotting the harbor.

We drove along the banks of the harbor, enjoyed spectacular views and passed through the town of Innishannon. We had a majestic view of the Bandon River before arriving back to the pier in Cobh.

Cork does have a reputation, or so they told us. For rebelliousness dating back to the town’s support of the English Pretender Perkin Warbeck in 1491 following the War of the Roses, and as a result of this Cork County has the nickname of “the Rebel County.” Corkonians often refer to Cork as the “real capital of Ireland” and themselves as “Rebels.”

We are glad we did this tour. There was a Dance Folkloric aboard the Voyager but our tour was such that we missed it. We debated not touring but we are glad we did.

As we sailed away a brass bank played an interesting assortment of music from "Memories" to "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to "Danny Boy" to "Loch Lomond."

Ireland is as green and beautiful as we remembered……. And the people are so wonderfully friendly and funny. What a wonderful visit!

June 2-Waterford

We awoke and were already anchored. Boats get lowered so quietly we had no idea we had arrived.

Passengers were tendered into Dunmore East, a small fishing village. The town of Waterford was about 10 miles upriver. Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland.

Waterford is a walled city of Viking origins founded in the 9^th century (circa 914) and was taken over by Strongbow, the Norman invader, after much bloodshed, in 1170. The city resisted Oliver Cromwell’s 1649 attacks- his phrase “by Hook or by Crooke” refers to his two siege routes here, one via Hook Head, the other via Crooke Village on the estuary.

The city fell the next year and did not prosper again until 1783 when George and William Penrose set out to create “plain and cut flint glass, useful and ornamental,” and thereby set in motion a glass-manufacturing industry without equal. The town retains much of its medieval character together with the graceful buildings from its 18th century expansion.

Many of the familiar Waterford crystal patterns, Tramore and Lismore especially, r

eflect the names of small towns around Waterford. The crystal production factory, located on the banks of the River Suir closed early of 2009, and there are plans to open what was t

he museum portion we saw years ago as a Visitors Center. Unfortunately it was not yet opened. When we were in the Czech Republic we visited a crystal factory and the crystal was just as intricate and beautiful as Waterford….but way cheaper because of the difference in labor costs. No wonder Waterford had trouble maintaining their place in the industry.

The parameters of the 10th century settlement can be clearly identified in The Viking Triangle. Reginald's Tower is the most historic urban medieval monument in Ireland.

The elegant Chamber of Commerce building, the City Hall and the Bishop's Palace are prime examples of beautiful

18th century architecture.

The town of Lismore was originally a monastic settlement founded in the 7th Century by St. Carthage, a Heritage Town, it was the centre of ecclesiastical and temporal power for centuries. Many other interesting small communities are around.

We had a lazy afternoon and a wonderful dinner at Signatures Restaurant. The sunset in the evening was so beautiful. We had never seen the clouds get that wrinkled effect before.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises continues to exceed our expectations. They do a great job!

As our journey is coming to an end, we begin to look homeward. We have two more days to tour and then home. We are so aware of all that is our there to see in the world and are grateful for the opportunities we have had to see much of this wonderful world. Thanks be to God!

June 1- Dublin

We arrived in Dublin this morning to gray and drippy skies. The weather is 67 degrees- the warmest we’ve had since Florida. Irish musicians playing traditional music greeted us. The port of Dublin, where we docked, was busy the entire time we were there. Cranes, trucks, and other pieces of equipment worked constantly loading and moving commercial containers. Ferries came and went regularly. Not a beautiful place to be docked but certainly interesting to observe.

Dublin (pronounced /ˈdʌblɨn/, /ˈdʊblɨn/ or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/) is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath [bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh] or Áth Cliath [aːh cliə(ɸ)]; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the

midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of

Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 23rd in the Global Financial Centers Index and has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city. Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern center of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry.

We went to breakfast and were the first people in the Dining Room at about 8:15AM.

Many people were getting off for tours but we were touring in the afternoon. We had such a good visit to Dublin in 1994 with Bill and Katherine so we chose to travel on the Liffey River before doing a driving tour of the city highlights.

Our guide was Valerie and she was about the best we ever had. She began with a Gaelic welcome and then thankfully switched to English. She used the expression “give you a thump” which our guide had used the day be

fore. We decided it meant the same as a slap only it sounded much nicer.

We heard much about the Irish Potato Famine where millions died or escaped to America. Valerie said fish was not something they ever thought about eating so a natural food source wasn't used to keep this tragedy from happening. There was a poignant cluster of 6 statues by the river back depicting people trying to leave during the famine. The one of the person carrying a small child was especially sad to me.

This area has had life for 6000 years as witnessed by the preserved bodies found in the bogs and now displayed in the Natural History Museum in the city. The Vikings settled this area in 832 AD. Any town with a “W” in its name was a Viking settlement because there is no letter “W” in Gaelic.

Strongbow came from Scotland to help reclaim the throne for Diarmant. He was a fierce fighter; fought hard beside the chieftains, fell in love with the chieftain’s daughter and the they married. This was partially to assure that this band of strong fighters would stay around in case the enemies tried to take over the throne again. Ireland became a republic in 1948, joined the European Union and has now adopted the Euro as its currency.

We saw Christ’s Cathedral, St Patrick’s Cathedral, The Customs House and many other impressive buildings. I remembered our hop on hop off bus trip in 1994 around the city. We got off the bus at Christ’s Cathedral and were met by a Dubliner who was really drunk.

He talked with us and followed us into the church. Had completely forgotten

that incident until we drove up to the

church. We also saw the long lines to get into Trinity College to see The Book of Kells and remembered that special viewing of the illuminated version of the Gospels.

Jonathan Swift was the dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His writings were often allegorical in nature

and also controversial. A Modest Proposal proposed that families who were struggling with finances should fatten their children and sell them for food. His sermons were 1- 1 ½ hours long. He often pounded on the pulpit to wake people up. If that didn’t work he’d throw the Bible at sleeping parishners saying, “If you can’t hear the Word of God, you can at least feel it.”

The claim is that in order to get early pagans who worshiped the sun to become Christians St. Patrick added the circle to the Celtic Cross to remind them of the sun. Never heard that before.

Valerie said rules were not so defined or strict in Ireland.

There are three kinds of rules….#1 “That’s Grand” #2 “Taking Liberties” and #3 That’s Illegal. Valerie is from the mountains outside of town and she said, “If you can see the mountains it is going to rain and if you can’t see the mountains it is raining.”

We drove past the statue of Molly Malone which has 4 names….the tart with the cart, the dolly with the trolley, the trollop with the scallops, and the dish with the fish. You can understand the origin of the many names.

We saw 2 beautiful bridges designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago

Calatrava. The James Joyce Bridge and the Samuel Beckett Bridge were both unusual designs. The Beckett Bridge is in the shape of an Irish Harp, the national symbol. The city crest depicts the motto, “Citizen’s obedience is the city's happiness."

Valerie said the three castle keeps were to remind the citizens that if there was a fire all were to stay and protect the city but she doubted if people felt that way anymore.

We drove by the huge Guinness brewery and remembered out 9:00AM tasting some years ago. Guinness lived a long life and he and his ONLY wife had 21 children. Valerie told us Guinness is in the Bible in the Sermon on the Mount, “Those who aren’t with us are a Guinness.” She also frequently sang Irish ballads as we drove along. Great experience in Dublin.